Flights Chicago → Washington
ORD → DCA
Route overview
This flight route connects Chicago to Washington, operating with a mix of aircraft including the Boeing 737 series, Airbus A320 family, and McDonnell Douglas MD-83. With an average delay of 17.6 minutes per flight and 75% of flights arriving on time, the route maintains moderate punctuality out of Chicago to Washington's historic airport, which has been in operation since 1938 and currently serves over 25 million passengers annually.
Your rights on this US flight (DOT)
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under the US DOT rules, if your flight is cancelled or significantly changed and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Amenities for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
US flight refund rules & checker →General information, not legal advice.
The Chicago (ORD) → Washington (DCA) route is operated by American Airlines, United Airlines. Across 2198 flights monitored in recent months, 75% arrived on time (within 15 min of schedule), with an average delay of 18 minutes. The cancellation rate is 3.73%. FlightGuard's average computed risk is 28.1/100 (medium), updated in real time from weather, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel and flight history. At Washington the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes (main cause: atfm). Departing from Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 minutes.
Heading to Washington: what to expect in this direction
Flying from Chicago (ORD) to Washington (DCA) heads east for about 983 km, a flight time of roughly 1h 39m.
Departures from Chicago on this leg cluster in the overnight window: about 38% of ORD-DCA flights take off then.
Air-traffic congestion: departing Chicago the average ATFM delay is 2.0 min (atfm); arriving into Washington it is 2.0 min (atfm).
Across 2,198 tracked ORD-DCA flights, 75% left on time with an average delay of 18 min and a 3.7% cancellation rate.
Route facts
Flights on this route
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Airline punctuality on this route
| Airline | On-time | Average delay | Cancellations |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Airlines (UA) | 74% | 10 min | 6.9% |
| American Airlines (AA) | 74% | 16 min | 3.0% |
Airlines operating ORD-DCA
Airports
Frequently asked questions about ORD-DCA
On the Chicago (ORD) -> Washington (DCA) route, on-time performance is 75% with an average delay of 18 minutes, based on 2198 tracked flights.
The cancellation rate on Chicago-Washington is 3.73% across 2198 monitored flights.
The route is operated by 2 airlines: American Airlines, United Airlines.
Enter your flight number on FlightGuard for a real-time analysis based on 9 factors: weather at Washington, ATC delays, strikes, NOTAMs, fuel, airline punctuality and recent trends.
US flights have no statutory cash compensation for delays. Under US DOT rules, if the airline cancels or significantly changes your flight and you decline rebooking, you're owed an automatic refund of the unused ticket. The tarmac-delay limit is 3 hours (domestic) / 4 hours (international). Meals or hotels for controllable delays depend on each airline's contract of carriage.
